This tin-plated iron lunch box was patented in 1871 by Charles C. Moore. The box folds in flat on itself. The lunch box has a black and red plaid exterior, and the top is adorned with the text “Moore’s Patented Folding Lunch Box.” About three inches tall in its box form; it collapses down to less than half an inch when folded.

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1960. It has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible, red plastic handle. The art on the lunch box features images of four submarines on the back and sides. The submarines are the USS Nautilus, Seawolf, Skipjack, and George Washington. The George Washington is shown firing an underwater missile, and there is a cross-section of the USS Nautilus on the bottom.

This top-opening square metal lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries in 1958. It has a metal snap for hinged lid and a hinged peach plastic handle. The lunch box has a peach and beige faux basket weave pattern lithographed on exterior, while the interior has white butterfly pattern on peach field.

This aluminum metal, dome lunch box was made by Thermos in the 1940s. The box has a steel handle, two snap closures, and vent holes. The box has a star stamped on the side of the lid. This box is typical of the metal domed boxes that were used before licensed boxes became commonplace.

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1973. It has a white plastic snap for a hinged lid and a white collapsible, plastic handle. The box has a light blue background and white rim, and features of colorful drawings of flowers on the lid, back and sides.

This steel lunch box was manufactured by the Ohio Art Company in1957. It features a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. The exterior design is a red, brown and yellow plaid design.

This steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1969 to take advantage of the excitement over the moon landing. The exterior features images from the Apollo 11 mission, including Neil Armstrong’s first step onto the lunar surface, and the command module’s splashdown. There is an illustrated National Safety Council "Safety First" message printed in black and white on the interior lid, and the bottom features an image of the plaque that was left on the lunar surface.

This tin lunch box was made by Thermos in 1963. It has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. The front side of the box shows a cross section of the Mercury manned space flight module, showing John Glenn operating the capsule. The reverse side shows the Atlas rocket launching from the space pad. These images were lifted from National Geographic, and Thermos received a cease and desist and stopped production. As such, these boxes are rather rare.

This domed steel lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1969. This lunch box features a psychedelic pattern of swirling orange, red, pink and yellow. The wild design aesthetic is representative of the 1960’s ethos and evokes other sixties motifs like tie-dye and lava lamps.

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1978. The lunch box is entitled, "The Skateboarder," and features colorful scenes of skateboarders in action on all exterior surfaces. This lunch box was one of the few that did not feature licensed images from television, and instead tried to cash in on the growing popularity of skateboarding.

This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1973. The lunch box has a blue rim and animated scenes of space life and travel on all sides. Due to the success of NASA and the popularity of Star Wars and Star Trek, companies tried to use space images to sell their products. This is an example of Thermos using generic “UFO” images to sell their lunch boxes.

This tin lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in the 1990s. The lunch box is licensed by Barbie, although the typical Barbie image does not appear on the box. Pink, green and yellow drawings of Barbie dolls are on the front and back and floral patterns are on the lid and back. Barbie was originally invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler, and the Mattel Corporation has sold over a billion Barbie dolls world wide since that time.

This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1976. The lunch box features images of all the helmets of the National Football League teams, with one side being the teams of the National Conference, and the other side being the teams in the American Conference.

This steel lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1967. It has a metal snap for its hinged lid and a collapsible green plastic handle. The box is green and features colorful action images of Tarzan in jungle settings on all external surfaces, watched by his ape friend Cheeta and the orphan boy Jai. This box had art that was based on the Tarzan television series that ran from 1966-1968 on NBC.

This tin lunch box was made by Thermos in 1957. It has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible, metal handle. The box has a blue background, with an image of Roy Roger’s horse Trigger bucking on an open plain with mountains in the background.

This hard red plastic lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1991. It has a hinged handle and closing snap for hinged lid. The lunch box features an image of Steve Urkel from the show Family Matters on lid. Family Matters ran from 1989-1997 on ABC and 1997-1998 on CBS, mainly part of ABC’s TGIF block of programming. With his catchphrase “Did I do that?” and distinctive laugh, Urkel became the breakout star of the show and is the star of this box.

This vinyl-clad, cardboard-core lunch box was made by Aladdin in 1967. It has a hinged white plastic handle and metal snap for lid. The box is lavender, and features images of Twiggy modeling several outfits on the lid, along with head shot that has her iconic look. Twiggy was one of the first international supermodels, so famous that she even had her own Barbie doll! This lunch box was just one of many pieces of memorabilia that bore Twiggy’s image at the height of her fame.